The architecture park at the Campus in Weil am Rhein is as characteristic of Vitra as the home and office furniture that it produces. In 1981, after a major fire destroyed most of the factory buildings built in the 1950s, this site was developed into a heterogeneous ensemble of contemporary architecture. The legendary architect Philip Johnson once wrote: “Not since the Weissenhofsiedlung in Stuttgart in 1927 has there been a gathering in a single place of a group of buildings designed by the most distinguished architects in the Western world.” In developing the Campus, the architects involved sought to create buildings that harmonised both with the surrounding residential areas and with the natural landscape of the border triangle (Switzerland, Germany and France). And, indeed, what came about was a collection of purpose-built constructions, the incredible density and quality of which have made the Vitra Campus an attraction for fans of architecture from all over the world.

Architecture Tours

Take an architecture tour of the Vitra Design Museum to gain some background information about the buildings designed by Tadao Ando, Zaha Hadid, Herzog & de Meuron, Frank Gehry, Nicholas Grimshaw, Álvaro Siza and SANAA as well as about the structures by Buckminster Fuller and Jean Prouvé. Public guided tours lasting approximately 2 hours take place every hour from 11am to 3pm in German and English. Groups of ten or more are kindly asked to sign up for private guided tours four weeks in advance.